Finally!!

We did a couple of 5Ks right before we got pregnant with Jack, with plans to do the Detroit Marathon in October.  Instead, we had a baby in October.   We've had plans to run ever since he was born, but we finally got around to it this summer.  Then I got hurt, and sick and we stopped.  We started again in October, but John got sick, Jack got sick, John got sick, Jack got sick, I got sick, etc.   We have managed to get a few runs in here and there, but we weren't sure if we had run enough to run a 5K on Thanksgiving.  We signed up the day before....and then low and behold I woke up with a cold.   We ran it anyway.  Slow, but we did it.  39:24.  I think I could have walked it in almost that time.  I'm really hoping it was my cold, because the last 5Ks we did were at 31:28. 

This everyone waiting to start.

 

This is everyone behind us.  There were 14,000 runners!!

 

 Go!!!

 Lots of people dress up for this run...in this picture you can see an incredible hulk up ahead.

 You can see the people waiting for the parade on the sidelines.

Almost to the finish!!  

We made it!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family later that evening!  

26.2

My sister and brother in law ran in the Detroit Free Press Marathon today!!  What an accomplishment!! 

They really inspired us today to start running again.  Last time I decided to run a marathon though, I got pregnant. 

On Saturday, we went to the cider mill with Bryant, Rachel and Marcel.   We were SO cold!!  It wasn't that cold when we left, and so we weren't dressed appropriately!!

We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Jack picking his pumpkin.

All of us.

And of course, we had cider and doughnuts!

Getting better...

I hope to post about more than just running...but we did another 5K, this one the morning of Superbowl Sunday. The weather was MUCH better this time! I ran 1 minute faster than the last 5K...31:28. Getting better, but I'd like to be under 30 minutes. It's hard to improve when the weather is so cold. Running isn't at the top of my list of things to do when I get home from work, when it's 5 degrees outside.

This 5K was really cool, because they had pizza, sandwiches, and wings afterwards!



I do need to post about other things, because these running photos are SOOOO not attractive!!

Here's a cute picture, and not running related!

Happy New Year! (again!)

We did our 5K New Year's Resolution Run today, that was originally scheduled for Jan 1st, but got cancelled due to 14 inches of snow. Instead, they rescheduled it for the coldest day of the year yet. Today. We decided to do the run about 2 minutes before we left! We are glad we went, but my lungs still don't feel quite right. It was COLD! This is us before the race...



We did warm up though, I ended up taking my scarf and gloves off.

This is us after the race.



It was a little embarrassing, it was a loop that you ran twice...as we were getting to the half way point, also the start and also the finish, a guy ZOOMED past us to FINISH the race. Yes, his time was less than half of ours. He ran 3.1 miles in 15 minutes. We decided that only the hard core runners came out today...and all the not so hard core stayed home...because we finished pretty close to last, and we aren't THAT slow!! My time was 32:30 and I finished 29th of 33 women. I was kind of embarrased. With my swimming background, I'm just not used to not doing well at something like this. The girl that finished first was 16 and she ran it in 20 minutes.

I'm pretty happy though, I was hoping to be as close to 30 minutes as possible, and we were only up to running 2.6 miles, so this was longer than we have run yet, and MUCH colder than we have run in.



Next race: Superbowl Sunday 5K in Novi.

Happy 2008!

New Year's Resolution Run is CANCELLED
Due to the extreme weather conditions, the New Year's Resolution Run is CANCELLED, and will be rescheduled.

That is what was posted on the Lake Orion website this morning. We kind of figured, since they were predicting 8 inches of snow.

We did not get 8 inches, we only got about 4, but I have a feeling Lake Orion got their 8 plus more. Not good running conditions!

We had a party at my sister in law's house last night. We spent some time playing around with the kid's snowboarding toy, it was at least good for some photos:



My camera battery died right after midnight, so my photos are limited, this is the last one taken, we were trying to get a good shot of the girls. This isn't it. ;)

Christmas...

Peppermintinis in our PJs...this was taken Christmas night, and yes, we had been in those PJs since Christmas Eve night. One of our traditions on Christmas Day, PJs all day! Of course, they are always NEW PJs....we open them Christmas Eve. John got me super cute pjs with stars all over them. (he says because I'm a superstar!) I love them!

We had a great Christmas, and the appliances are in the kitchen and the refrigerator fit! And it makes ice! Very exciting.

Some big news came on Christmas Eve...my nephew Marcel comes home January 12!

Next challenge...running a 5K after a New Year's Eve party. Well, the next morning.

Happy Birthday John!

John's 34th birthday is today!

After much distress about his gift...I ended up buying a weight machine from John's sister and brother in law. It's a fantastic machine, and they sold it to us really cheap. I also got him a new pair of running shoes (you can see them hanging on the machine!) As you might guess, we are trying to be healthier!

I have started the Couch to 5K running program. It's a 9 week program designed to take people from the "couch" to running a 5K regularly by doing a walking/running combination. It's going really well. I'm on Week 2. Hopefully the weather stays nice enough that we can finish this outside.

This weekend, we also did Ferndale's Tour of the Town, which they do twice a year. It's a lot of fun, and all the shops have free hors d'oeuvres and wine.



I got the coolest belt EVER! It is made of metal pop tops..they are all crocheted together! I LOVE it!

I'm still around....

I haven't posted in a LOOONG time. I know. Nothing has happened that has been really bloggable. Still, really nothing has, but I don't want anyone to worry!

TigerFest is today, and we were planning on going. It's at Comerica Park, and we wanted to do the tour they were offering. Last Saturday, it sold out. SOLD OUT! It would have never occurred to me to buy tickets a week in advance. Oh well. That's what happens when your team is good. I'm glad it's snowy and cold though. Ha!

I'm still running, kind of. It's getting really cold to run. John is going out in it, but I'm kind of lazy when it's cold and snowy. I did run 2 miles in 18:50 last Monday...I was happy with that. I also did 9 push ups yesterday. There is a weird push up competition going on with my brother in law Greg, our friend Rick and my husband. So, I thought I should see how many I can do. When I was swimming, probably when I was 17 or so, I could do 50. My coach was on a push up kick at the time. FIFTY!! In a row! I am 10 years older, and 15 pounds heavier and way out of shape, so 9 isn't so bad!

It's almost the end of my year with the Scrapbook Zone Design Team. It's been up for discussion who is re-applying within the current team and who is not. It seems like half and half. I really want to do it again, so I think I will re-apply. I am scared of rejection, but I will regret not trying. Here is one of my pages for this month. A lot of people that read this blog will recognize this photo. A lot of people that read this blog will NOT recognize this photo. This is 1988, me and my cousins. I'm the oldest in the middle (no one told my mom the theme was PINK!). Melissa and Alex on one side, and Katie and Amamda on the other side. We were pretty cute back then!


Sorry for the long boring post...hopefully something bloggable happens soon!

It's always interesting....

Christmas at John's Grandma Anderson's house...never a dull moment!

 

 

 

 

 

In other news...
We are still running. We ran 2 miles in 21 minutes tonight. I think that's pretty good for almost 30 and out of shape.

The Tigers signed Bonderman for 4 more years. Is it baseball season yet?

Don We Now Our Gay Apparel...

On Saturday, John and I went to the Ferndale ice festival. It's not much, just little ice scuptures outside of each business down 9 Mile. It's a nice walk at least. It's fun to see what each place decides to have carved for them. The BEST one this year, or any year, was outside of Affirmations, the not yet built Gay and Lesbian Community Center. For those of you that aren't familiar with Ferndale, we have a very large gay community. Here is their sculpture. If you can't read it, refer to my title today.


I won't say much about last year, except that we were really lacking in the Christmas spirit as far as decorating goes...and we hadn't started yet this year. We string popcorn and cranberries for our tree garland, and that is quite a job, so we procrastinate. We decided to go ahead and get started.


I've been saying that we would never again get a real Christmas tree, and my mom gave us her fake tree...but it's HUGE. So, for some unknown crazy reason, we decided to get a real tree. A little one. I LOVE it. It's so perfect for our little house. When John reads this he will say "Our house is NOT little! Anyway, our little tree is perfect for our house! I am so happy with it! We decorated late into the night, until we were finished. We had a fire going, and Christmas music playing...well, kind of, it's a Jimmy Buffett Christmas CD, and I love Jimmy, but "Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of rum?" Catchy little tune, but different, that's for sure.





On an unrelated note...I ran 2 miles tonight! I've become a lazy slug since I quit swimming after college...so I decided since I'm almost 30, and I know what happens when people don't exercise as they get older, I would start. My goal was 1 mile, and when I got to the .5 mile mark, I decided to go for 2 instead. I have never been a good runner, but when I was swimming, I could run whatever the coach told me to, whether it be 2 miles, or 6 miles, at the drop of a hat, so I went for 2 today. We will see if I keep this up. I figured blogging about it would give me some accountability!

We'll see.